Azimuth
Characters article |image=File:BO1-NPC-Azimuth.gif |caption=Azimuth in Blood Omen. |introduced= Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (1996) |appearances= Blood Omen}} Azimuth the Planer was a minor character in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. She was a human, the Matriarch of the city of Avernus, and the incumbent Guardian of the Pillar of Dimension during the [[Events of Blood Omen|events of Blood Omen]]. Tainted by the corruption of the Pillars, Azimuth was the fifth member of the Circle of Nine to be hunted down by Kain. Discovering Avernus in flames - being ravaged by Azimuth's Demons - Kain confronted Azimuth in Avernus Cathedral and, upon slaying her, was able to temporarily restore the Pillar of Dimension. Profile Pre-Blood Omen era Azimuth was born to serve the Pillars as Guardian of Dimension at some point in the centuries of Nosgoth's early history and, along with the immortality gifted by her role, Azimuth's position also allowed her power over other dimensions allowing her to become an "explorer of alien realms"*. Azimuth also ruled over the city of Avernus and lived in the Cathedral, suggesting a large role in the religious life of her citizens. The Pillar Token gifted to her was Azimuth's Eye. At some point in this era Azimuth, along with Death Guardian Mortanius, investigated the Avernus Catacombs and the two of them "unearthed" something of great power, though what exactly it was that they discovered "beneath Avernus" is yet to be revealed. Mortanius and Azimuth were "seduced away from their service of the pillars" by this power, forming the Cult of Hash'ak'gik, with Azimuth using a time-streaming device to retrieve Turel from the [[Events of Soul Reaver|events of Soul Reaver]] to act as the dark god of the cult. (It is likely that Azimuth was aware of the Hylden's role behind the cult; unlike Mortanius, who may have believed that Turel, who he knew as "Hash'ak'gik" was the leader of the cult). After Nupraptor descended into madness, corrupting the Pillars, Azimuth was affected by the corruption enhancing her sadistic streak and making Azimuth a "raving lunatic"* who used her powers to summon demons from other realms to attack her own city. Blood Omen era After the defeats of Bane, DeJoule and Malek at Dark Eden, Kain on the cryptic advice of Ariel travelled to Avernus to confront Lady Azimuth. As Kain approached the city however, he saw that it was being "consumed"* by a raging fire and much of the city lay in ruins - Avernus Cathedral itself (as the lair of Azimuth) was untouched. Kain was confronted by several demons and made his way into Avernus Cathedral. Entering the Cathedral, Kain discovered that Azimuth's powers had divided the Cathedral into several 'dimensions' and he followed Ariel's cryptic advice; "rising" into the 'Heavenly Realm' to collect the Soul Reaver and "falling' into the 'hellish realm' (actually the Avernus Catacombs) to collect the Wraith Armor; two items that would be incredibly useful in battling the planer. When he finally caught up with Azimuth in the 'regular dimension' of the Cathedral, she claimed to have no knowledge of the trinkets (suggesting they may have been 'planted') and summoned several Demons (called Ogres) to battle Kain. Azimuth 'hung back' from the battle and used telekinetic projectiles and teleportation to attack and evade Kain. If Kain got close enough, however, he was able to utilise a single strike of the incredibly powerful Soul Reaver blade to kill her. (see Azimuth (boss)). Once Azimuth was defeated, Kain was able to recover two artifacts from her: The first was a Time Streaming Device (which Azimuth had apparently stolen from Moebius, intending to summon Demons from others times). This was described by Ariel as "salvation"* and it would eventually rescue Kain from the Battle of the Last Stand. The second item Kain recovered from Azimuth was her Pillar Token]; Azimuth's Third Eye Pendant, that when returned to the Pillars, would restore the Pillar of Dimension; albeit only temporarily. Development }} Development Appearance Personality Powers Etymology Notes *The name 'Azimuth' and title 'the Planer' are both references to geometric dimension(s) and orientation; an azimuth is an angular bearing between an observer and a point of interest with reference to a perpendicular plane; a plane itself is a flat two dimensional surface, often used to represent the single 'dimensions' of 'length' 'width' and 'height' in three dimensional space. *Azimuth's age is not conclusively discussed in the series, but since we know that a Dimension Guardian was killed by Vorador in Nosgoth's early history, Azimuth cannot be older than 500 years at the time of the events of Blood Omen (it is not clear if Azimuth was born as a direct successor to this Guardian, or years later after the death of another). *Azimuth is the only major character in the entire series that has only appeared 'officially' as a 2D sprite; with neither a 'FMV render' or a 3D model for her; though at least one 'promotional FMV render' of her is known to exist. This image confirmed that Azimuth's 'third eye' was a pendant. *With many of the Circle of Guardians of this era supposedly 'seduced' into the service of the Cult of Hash'ak'gik, Azimuth is one of the few guardians (along with Mortanius and Anarcrothe) who shows direct connections to the cult; Azimuth's association with Demons and the presence of Hash'ak'gik's Altar in the Avernus Catacombs in Blood Omen point to this; and likewise the presence of the cult and its figurehead Turel in the Avernus Catacombs in ''Defiance'' also seems to point to this possibility. *Azimuth does not appear in further titles but, much like Nupraptor, her influence looms large in later games; Azimuth (as hinted by Blood Omen and Legacy of Kain: Defiance and confirmed by Crystal Dynamics*) was a major worshipper of Hash'ak'gik and was responsible for the Turel's recovery form the [[Events of Soul Reaver|events of Soul Reaver]] (presumably using the Time Streaming Device she held in Blood Omen)* - this likely means that she was one of the few truly aware of Turel's role in the Hylden's plans and that he was not the "true hash entity"*. *There is some evidence of an adversarial relationship between Azimuth and fellow corrupted Pillar Guardian Moebius the Time Streamer (Time Guardian); Azimuth was known to have stolen a Time Streaming Device from Moebius (which she used to recover Turel from the [[Events of Soul Reaver|events of Soul Reaver]]) and Moebius is suspected of planting the Wraith Armor and Soul Reaver in Avernus Cathedral, which enabled Azimuth's death and Kain's recovery of the Time Streaming Device (playing into Moebius' hands). This relationship between the two Guardians is hardly surprising, given their likely roles as 'chief representatives' of opposing forces (The Hylden/Hash'ak'gik and the Elder God respectively) *At some point during development of Blood Omen, Azimuth was known as "Hericus" * See also * Azimuth the Planer at Dark Chronicle (by Marie Tryhorn). References Browse Category:Blood Omen Category:Browse Category:Characters Category:Characters/Blood Omen major characters Category:Characters/Blood Omen it:Lady Azimuth